If Italy was feeling good fresh off their 14-4 takedown of Covington on Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Gladiators lost 15-7 to the Hillsboro Eagles on Thursday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Gladiators of the 15-9 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in March of 2025.
Kace Campbell was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run any time he's pitched this season. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with three stolen bases and one run.
Tripp Slovak
| 03/05/26 @ Hillsboro | 3 |
| 03/03/26 vs Covington | 3 |
| 02/28/26 vs Rice | 3 |
In other batting news, Tripp Slovak was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one run. Slovak is crushing it when it comes to RBI: he's brought in at least three every time he's taken the field this season. Grayson Jones also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Italy now has a losing record of 2-3. As for Hillsboro, their victory ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-7.
While Italy had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
